This week, I started a diet to lose some weight before I go on my cruise, and I also started to try to walk a bit more so that I can manage to walk around a bit more on some of the planned excursions.
Monday, 11th September.
I woke up at around 7 am today, had a coffee, sat down at my computer, and started working on my website. At around 8 am I had a message from my friend Jacqui that she may be a bit late for our coffee meet-up. This didn't matter as I had to go to the optician opposite the cafe where we were meeting to get some new reading glasses.
I arrived at the optician's just after it opened at 9:45 am. I went in, and I was immediately seen by the lady working there. I had to buy a new pair because my glasses couldn't be repaired. I had an eye test, and my eyesight had worsened slightly and a new prescription set of glasses would have to be made. After sitting for the eye tests and being measured for a new set of glasses, I picked a frame style. I decided against varifocal glasses as they were more expensive, and I have got used to just looking over the top of my glasses anyway. The new set of glasses cost me €175, so I hope this set lasts me a long time.
When I left the optician, I had a look at the Parking Cafe for Jacqui but couldn't see her yet, so I went into Economy Cash to get some shopping. I only wanted a couple of things, but I was looking at the shop-made chicken nuggets, which looked lovely. The lady working there offered me a 30% discount on them, so I bought ½ kilo of them. Next to the nuggets, there was what looked like a chicken stir fry mix which looked good, so I bought ½ kilo of that as well. I collected a few other things in the shop, put them in the box on my disability scooter and then went back to the Café outside.
As I went to sit at a table, Jacqui arrived, and we sat down for a drink. We sat chatting for around 40 minutes before I headed home to put the shopping I had bought in the fridge and then went along the promenade to meet Martin at midday. Aria returned to school this week, so our office meeting was a bit quieter today. Dave joined us for a while, and we swapped tall stories until around 2 pm when we all left to go home.
I went straight home, and when I got home, I used up the last bit of bread I had in my apartment and had two bacon sandwiches for my lunch. I want to lose weight before my cruise, so I will try the Atkins diet again. It has worked in the past, and I also hope the extra protein will help my leg heal before the cruise. This will mean cutting out bread and beer which I fear are the things that help maintain my weight and ample beer belly.
In the afternoon, I try to do more family tree research but find it difficult to balance the broken reading glasses on my nose. After a few hours, I give up and spend the evening watching television.
Tuesday, 12th September.
I had a very fitful sleep again last night. I had vivid dreams of waking in strange homes with a mixture of old and new friends around me, walking through strange new places, and trying to rescue old friends from difficult situations. I must get a book about dreams to see what they all mean.
When I got up at around 7:30 am, I got myself a coffee, tied my broken reading glasses around my head and read my messages on my computer.
I had intended to make a butternut squash soup today, but when I looked in the fridge, I had a few extra vegetables there that would soon have to be thrown out if I didn't use them, so I added them to it and made a very brightly coloured vegetable soup. I finished making it around lunchtime and had two bowls because they tasted good. Now that the weather isn't so warm, I will probably start cooking and adding more recipes to my website. There was enough soup left to freeze five large servings into glass-lidded bowls. This will help me over the next few months while I try to lose weight before my cruise to Brazil.
In the afternoon and evening, I added newspaper clips from a court case that some of my ancestors were in onto my website. Just as the Scotland vs England football match started tonight, I stopped working on my website and sat down to watch the game. It was quite an entertaining game in which England won 3-1. Scotlands' only goal came from an own goal by Harry Maguire. Why Gareth Southgate keeps insisting on putting Maguire in the team is beyond me, he doesn't play for his club team, Manchester United. Manchester United tried to sell him this year, and he refused to leave them. It's probably because he is on such large wages and feels better off turning up for training and collecting his money each week. I can't say I blame him. I would do the same thing, but it is annoying when he gets picked over better players who play weekly for their club teams. In tonight's game, he was rewarded for his own goal by being made captain when Harry Kane was substituted, a ridiculous decision by Gareth Southgate.
Wednesday, 13th September.
I woke up at about 7:15 am today. The daylight hadn't quite started to brighten the sky, but it wasn't long before the birds singing in the trees outside heralded the sun's rising. I worked on my website for a while and hoped that the lady in the opticians would call me earlier rather than later today to tell me my new reading glasses had arrived and I could collect them. Holding my glasses onto my face with a bit of cord and trying to balance them precariously on my nose is annoying, but I can't do anything without them.
I cook myself a Keto-friendly breakfast. I have two Cumberland sausages and 2 rashers of bacon cooked in my air fryer with a scrambled egg. Once the breakfast had settled, I set off for a walk around 10:50 am before it got too hot. I walked along the promenade to La Encarnacion, then turned and walked through the shops behind it to the Estribor Café next to the town hall. I stopped at the Café and sat down to rest and to have a coffee. After 10 minutes, I continued my walk back home along the main road through Los Alcazares. It had taken me a while, and I was puffed out when I got back, but I will keep going for as long as my knee holds out to lose weight and hopefully make my legs stronger before I go to Brazil.
After resting for a while, I type up more news stories from newspaper clippings for my website. All of them are for the same court case in November 1923 in which some of my ancestors are being tried for fraud. At about 2 pm, I stop and have some chicken nuggets for my lunch, and when I have finished I walk around to the local rubbish bin with some homemade shelving and some other junk I want to get rid of. After dumping the items next to the bin so that the man who lives next to the bin can collect them without jumping in it, I walk home. The man that lives there must watch everybody who walks past the bin because as soon as you drop anything off he is out of his house inspecting it and taking it home.
This afternoon, I sat down on the sofa and quickly fell asleep. I had a half-hour nap before getting back up. I went into my bedroom and changed the linen sheets on my bed. Once they were changed, I sorted the clean bed sheets and found some that would fit the bed in the spare bedroom. Once I had found sheets that fit, I put them on the bed. At least now, if any friends or family want to visit, the room is ready for them, and I won't have to make the bed in a hurry.
The lady at the optician said my new reading glasses would be available today and that she would ring me when I could collect them. I didn't receive a phone call, so I will walk to the optician tomorrow morning to see where they are. I continued working on my website in the evening until I went to bed at about 11 pm.
Thursday, 14th September.
Unable to sleep last night, I got up at 1 am and did some more work on my website until around 2:30 am. I then returned to bed, waking up again at around 8:15 am. I got myself a coffee, checked my computer for any messages and got myself a protein shake with a banana and blueberries for breakfast before walking to the opticians at Rio Nalon.
I walked to the opticians and waited while the lady running the shop dealt with someone else. When she had finished with her other customers, she asked me how she could help and I told her I had come to collect my glasses that should have been ready yesterday. She looked in lots of drawers in the front and back of the store and told me they hadn't arrived. I asked when they would arrive and she rang the lab and was told maybe next Tuesday. I explained that she had promised them yesterday and told her I wanted to cancel the order as I needed to get them for work. She cancelled the order, refunded my credit card, and left the shop. As I left the shop I remembered that I had a problem with the shop the last time I bought glasses here and had to wait a lot longer than I had been promised to get my glases.
As I walked home I decided I would have to get a temporary pair of cheap reading glasses from the Chino shop near my home. I was surprised when I went in that the reading glasses seemed much more robust than they used to be, and I picked a pair that looked and felt very similar to the pair I had ordered for €175 at the opticians. I could read the labels in the store and the screen on my mobile phone with them on, so I bought them. They came with a cloth wipe and cost me €5, I know they are not great for my eyes but they will be perfect until I get a new pair ordered from a different optician.
I continued my walk home and settled down to work on my computer. It was nice to be able to type with both hands and not have to hold my glasses on with one hand. For lunch, I had a jacket potato with crab salad in it. I pottered about a bit before sitting down and napping for an hour.
This afternoon and evening, I added details to people in the genealogy section of my website. I stopped at around 9 pm to watch television and had another protein shake for my evening meal.
Friday, 15th September.
I woke up at around 6 am, turned over and went back to sleep, waking up again at around 8 am. When I got up I got myself a pot of green tea with jasmine and peach. As the tea was brewing in the pot, I air-fried some bacon and two sausages and made some scrambled eggs. I sat at my computer, ate breakfast and relaxed until around 10 am when I walked along the promenade.
I walked along the promenade until I got to La Encarnacion and then turned to go through the shops to the Estribor cafe where I sat and had a coffee. I read my Kindle for a while and then continued to walk back to my apartment, weaving through the back streets of Los Alcazares. Once back at my apartment, I worked on my website till around 3 pm before having a late lunch of a jacket potato, one half with crab salad and the other half with mushroom pate.
Once I had finished my lunch I did a bit more work on my website before having an afternoon nap. This evening I again worked on my website until I went to bed around 11 pm.
Saturday, 16th September.
I slept well last night and woke up around 8:15 am. I got up, got a glass of water, took my tablets and checked my computer for messages. Around 10 am, I had a message, from my friend Tony to let me know he was at Buena Vista restaurant and asked if I wanted to join him for a coffee. I walked around to see him and we sat chatting for a while before we headed off.
I walked along the promenade to La Encarnacion, then had a coffee and a rest at the Estribor cafe next to the town hall. I sat reading my Kindle for a while, and once I had got my breath back and finished my coffee I continued along the main road back to my apartment, getting home at about 12:30 pm. I was very hot and sticky and got myself a cold drink before sitting down to work on my computer before I lay on my sofa to rest my leg and watch today's football matches on the television.
The afternoon and evening were spent watching the day's Premier League football matches on the television.
Sunday, 17th September.
I slept well again last night and woke up at about 8 am today. Once I had woken up properly I put some washing in the washing machine, before I checked my computer for messages. I got myself a protein shake with blueberries and a banana for breakfast. It tasted fantastic.
At around 10 am I went to get some shopping. I knew the Mercadona store was closed, so I went to the Economy Cash store. Unfortunately, now the summer season is over, that was also closed. I left there and went to the Dialprix store near me. I don't like the store much but it is okay for a few odd bits. I got some milk and tortilla wraps and returned to my apartment.
Whilst at home I Skyped my sister and had a chat with her. We had a nice chat, and she sent me details of some homes she and Brett were looking at in Los Alcazares. One of the homes looked nice, and I thought I knew where it was so once I had finished talking to Karen I walked around to the house to look. It does look nice but there were no for sale signs on it. I wondered if it had already been sold, if I had got the wrong house, or if it was still for sale but didn't have any signs. I walked back to my apartment, and by the time I got back, the heat and humidity had gotten to me a bit and I was puffing a bit, so I had a rest before getting myself some dinner.
For dinner, I had a chicken stir fry mix in a tortilla wrap. I had bought the chicken mix and put it in the freezer earlier in the week. It cooked straight from the freezer in no time. It was very nice. I can recommend it.
This afternoon, I watched the Bournemouth vs Chelsea football match, which was a 0-0 draw, before watching the Everton vs Arsenal match. Arsenal were by far the better team but Everton defended very well. The game ended, Everton 0, Arsenal 1. Leandro Trossard scored a superb goal to give Arsenal their first win at Goodison Park in 6 seasons.
I remembered the washing in the washing machine, at about 10 pm and took it out and put it all away before having an early night.